Furious Protest at Adventist Hospital in India After Patient Death
1 October 2018 | A crowd of angry family members, relatives and friends staged a massive protest at Pune, Western India-based Pune Adventist Hospital this evening after the unexpected death of a patient.
Friends of Raju Hanumant Ashtange, 32, said that he was declared to be in a stable condition by hospital staff on Sunday night and that he had suddenly died Monday morning.
“We had admitted Raju after he faced difficulty in breathing. The hospital staff informed that his health was stabilised on Sunday night. But on Monday morning, he passed away. As per my knowledge, Raju never smoked nor did he consume alcohol. So, what could possibly be the reason behind his death? We immediately informed the police and will be filing a complaint with them against the hospital authorities after we get the autopsy report,” said Altaf Saudagar, a family friend, according to the Pune Mirror.
The group of family members gathered refused to take custody of Ashtange’s body. Law enforcement had to intervene in order for the body to be sent for a post-mortem at a different medical facility.
“The situation is under control right now,” said police inspector MR Pandit of Swargate police station. “Heated argument had erupted between the relatives of the patient and the hospital administration after his death. For now, we have asked the relatives to file an official police complaint against the hospital in order to initiate action. Once this is done, we will conduct thorough probe and the report will be forwarded to the authorities concerned to take a decision.”
Anup Haldar, the administrator of Pune Adventist Hospital told the Pune Mirror that, “There was no damage to property during the incident. A mob gathered as the deceased was a social worker. The relatives started their agitation on the hospital premises. Another major reason for the chaos was the interference of a third party (relatives and friends) in taking a final decision. Right now, everything is under control.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in India claims 1.5 million members.